Light flows from a window, accentuating a hand, a sleeve, a face. It washes across the wall, revealing a painting of the Last Judgment. It shimmers across gold and pearl jewelry. In the center hangs a balance, empty but for the light itself.
Dressed in a blue fur-trimmed jacket, a woman stands alone before a table in the corner of a room. She holds the balance in her right handand with lowered eyes waits for it to come to rest. A blue cloth, some open boxes, two strands of pearls, and a gold chainlie on the table. While the woman seems psychologically removed from us, her graceful figure and serene face suggest an inner peace
She is oblivious to our presence. Her pensive stillness suggests she may be weighing something more profound than jewelry. In waiting for the balance to rest at equilibrium, she acknowledges the importance of judgment in assessing her own actions. Woman Holding a Balance captures that brief moment when a familiar action is lifted to the eternal.
The poetry of Vermeer's paintings is immediate and recognizable. In Vermeer's hands, the stillness of the scene, the woman's concentration on her task, and the soft light that gently illuminates the room become at once heightened and familiar. Through his sensitivity to light, color, and composition, Vermeer transforms seemingly ordinary subjects into expressions of perfect balance and harmony.
Woman Holding a Balance embodies a spiritual principle that is often manifest in Vermeer's work: the need to lead a balanced life. Though Vermeer's working methods remain a mystery, it is clear that he constructed this composition with extreme care. Orthogonal lines to the vanishing point meet precisely at the woman's finger.The frame behind her reinforces this focus.
The balance point of the scales is exactly at the center of the painting. The woman's hands, the jewelry, and the tabletop form the shape of a pyramid. This imaginary pyramid supports the woman's hand and encloses the balance.
Vermeer frequently modified the scale and even the shape of objects to achieve a desired effect. Note, for example, that the bottom edge of the frame around the Last Judgment scene is higher in front of the woman than behind her, to allow sufficient space for the balance.
The interplay of verticals and horizontals, of mass against void, and of light against dark creates a carefully balanced, but never static, composition. This underlying pictorial structure subtly reinforces the theme of spiritual moderation.
Vermeer's Woman with a Balancecontains multiple levels of meaning. Much of its significance depends upon the emotions and experiences of the viewer. Touch the buttons to learn about various aspects of the painting's symbolism.
Light: Artists often use light to denote supernatural events and spiritual enlightenment.
Titian, Saint John the Evangelist on Patmos, 1547, National Gallery of Art, Samuel H. Kress CollectionThe Last Judgement: In the Last Judgment, Christ in majesty judges the souls below in this violent and fearsome final reckoning of mankind. The woman's head obscures the place whereSaint Michael customarily would be weighing souls in the balance. The figure of Christ appears immediately above the woman's head, reinforcing the interpretation that her mundane act is intended to parallel the weighing of souls in The Last Judgment. While the day of judgment is violent and final, the woman seems serene and contemplative.
Mirror：In Vermeer's painting, a frame on the wall contains a mirror. Mirrors in art often symbolize vanity or self-knowledge
Pearl：Symbolically, pearls have been associated with vanity and worldly concerns. Titian, for example, painted Venus' hair adorned with pearls.
They can also represent purity.
They can also represent purity.
Balance: The balance traditionally symbolizes justice--after all, to judge is to weigh. With nothing in its pans, it is not quite symmetrical, yet almost at equilibrium. In an exquisite passage of visual poetry, the woman's little finger echoes the horizontal arm of the balance and picture frame.
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